The
central nervous system has long been suggested as a system of the body
that might be particularly sensitive to the passage of highly ionizing
particles found in the galactic cosmic rays. To assess the neurotoxicity
of high-energy iron particles, we used an in vitro model in which neuronal
differentiation and neurite extension occur under controlled conditions.
The model uses chick embryo explants to study the effects of iron ions
on neuritogenesis.

The imaging problem is to observe the neurite outgrowth regenerated
from an explant, and to quantify the extent of growth. We have developed
an algorithm to reconstruct the neurite outgrowth which has automated
the quantification process.

In this talk we describe our algorithm, discuss the quantification measures
we obtain, and present preliminary results from our image analysis.